270 ^Ii'- H. Stuart Dove on 



is short but sweet, tlie phrase varying iu individuals but 

 appearing constant in each : thus, if at a certain spot we 

 hear a song which strikes us as diflfering from the normal, 

 on visiting the spot again we can usually hear the same 

 song repeated. In the ordinary ditty certain notes ring out 

 much louder than the rest, and these give a ventriloquial 

 effect, sounding sometimes as if they were several yards 

 distant from where the songster is perched. In the spring 

 month of October, a Field-Wren was heard singing from 

 the summit of a piece of scrub near the beach with a 

 phrase like " Weet-ee-tee-tee-tica'^ continually rej^eated, and 

 directly the bar was concluded there would generally be 

 two notes, " Iwce-hree," before it was recommenced. It was 

 difficult to determine whether these two almost isolated 

 notes were uttered by the singer or by its mate concealed 

 near by, as is the case with the Coachwhip-bird (Psophodes 

 crepitans) of the East Australian scrubs. 



The Calamunthus is one of our earliest breeders, beginning 

 probably during the cold frosty month of July ; nesting is 

 certainly in full swing during August, usually one of our 

 roughest and wettest months. The nest is a domed structure 

 with a side-entrance, quite thick and bulky from the amount 

 of material which is used for its construction. Books which 

 I have consulted give the nesting-site as at the foot of a 

 bush or tussock ; such, however, has not been my own 

 experience, for while searching under bushes or tussocks I 

 was invariably unsuccessful. All the nests found on this 

 north-west coast of Tasmania have been placed well ivithin a 

 large sagg or tussock ; and it is a curious fact that this s})ecies 

 almost invariably places the entrance of its abode on the 

 south-east side of the plant in which it is situated, or away 

 from the prevailing north-west winds wliich bring a great 

 deal of heavy rain. The bird slips in and out of the side- 

 entrance through the drooping blades of the tussock. 

 About two years ago I found quite a number of these 

 domiciles by searching through the hundreds of large clumps 

 or tussocks which abound on the swampy flats adjacent to 

 the sea-beach. The nest is usually placed a foot or two from 



